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Revamped AGO a modest masterpiece

The Art Gallery of Ontario may not be one of Frank Gehry's biggest projects, but it is one of his best.

The scope of the scheme, a $276-million remake of the venerable institution, simply didn't give the architect the financial and physical wherewithal needed to produce the sort of monument that captures the world's attention and changes cities.

But what the world doesn't know won't go unnoticed – or unappreciated – here in Toronto. To put it simply, Gehry's revamped AGO is a masterpiece, but just as important, it is the easiest, most effortless and relaxed architectural masterpiece this city has seen.

Just as great virtuosi make playing a musical instrument look like something a kid could do, great architects have a way of making their works appear inevitable. There is simply no other way the gallery could have ended up; this is it. Or so we believe.

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Nothing about the new AGO smacks of being arbitrary, eccentric or driven by vanity, the desire to shock, or, for that matter, please. This is a building that takes its every cue from the program; it is a place to view art.

That means displaying works in well-lit rooms with enough space to wander around as required. It also means designing an institutional building that can function as an intellectual, social and retail hub. As well as galleries, there must be the usual washrooms, restaurants, shops, offices, lobbies and theatres, the whole panoply of the 21st-century cultural centre.

Gehry has delivered brilliantly; to walk these new spaces is to see the work of a contemporary master, an architect completely comfortable in his own skin. There are no empty flourishes, no anxious moments, no embarrassing attempts to play to the audience; the building is defined from first to last by purpose and need.

Such restraint from one so celebrated runs counter to the spirit of the time. So let us all take a moment out of our busy day, bow our heads and quietly give thanks to Frank Gehry. This is a building that serves us, not him.

Comparisons are of limited use, but one can't help but think of the new AGO in light of Daniel Libeskind's controversial addition to the Royal Ontario Museum, the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. For all its remarkable qualities, the Crystal doesn't serve the ROM so much as it presents an idea about architecture. It is the subject of its own drama.

By contrast, Gehry's AGO is a building about art, and the viewing thereof. It is also a building that addresses the city of which it forms part. Never before has the gallery felt so connected to its surroundings. This will be immediately evident to anyone who spends time in the Galleria Italia, which extends east/west along most of the front façade. This is the sculpture atrium that faces Dundas St. from behind the "visor."

No doubt it will one of the most popular spots in the new building, and a wonderful example of the architect's interest in context.

"I'm an egomaniac like all the others," Gehry once joked, "but I'm a Canadian egomaniac. Modesty is built into our lives. My buildings are inclusive. You respect what's next door, even when it doesn't look like what you want it to. If you just see pictures of the Bilbao Guggenheim, you think it's Martian or something, but I spent a lot of time fitting it into the city."

And it's true; the Guggenheim, for all its outlandishness, sits so well on its site that it's not just part of the city, it is the city. The museum is a microcosm of Bilbao, addressing the city, the Nervion River that flows through it, and even accommodating its transit system, which passes close by.

By contrast, the AGO is a more modest project. It doesn't seek to reinvent the art gallery, just perfect it. The changes, inside and out, are extensive, but the intention is to maximize display space, and provide a flow between them. The most dramatic of the new spaces are the contemporary galleries on the fourth and fifth floors. The addition means that important Canadian artists – General Idea, Michael Snow, Paterson Ewen and others – get a room of their own.

The floors are also connected by a striking spiral staircase that reaches out from the rear façade (clad in blue titanium) a full 11.5 metres. This isn't the result of some weird Toronto bylaw, though God knows there are enough. It's there as a gesture. It offers hitherto unseen views of the city, from the Ontario College of Art and Design's "flying tabletop" as far south as Lake Ontario. Though it will improve access between the two floors of contemporary art galleries, the real purpose is our pleasure.

This motif of the spiral reappears in two fire exits at the back and, most memorably, in an extended stairwell that snakes down from the top floor through the roof of Walker Court and out one of its large arched openings. It is an amazing piece, one that introduces something new while highlighting the old. Walker Court has been invaded, occupied, altered forever, but happily.

Speaking of Walker Court, it has been restored to its original position as the centre of the gallery. Gehry has moved the main entrance west along Dundas so that it lines up with the court. Look carefully, and you can see right through from the front door to the Grange at the back. A new mezzanine level has also been added to the Walker, all of which means it's harder than ever to get lost.

Gehry's curves also show up in the ramp area between the front door and the ticket counter. Called the Serpentine, it meanders around an opening that allows for views to the basement where Ken Thomson's extraordinary collection of model ships can be seen. (A quick prediction here: Forget art. The boats will fast become the AGO's most visited exhibit.)

Thomson, Toronto über-collector and reluctant philanthropist, deserves much of the credit for making the project happen. Not only did he donate his extensive art holdings, he anted up $90 million in cash. Some thought a family worth more than $20 billion might have given more, but until his death in June 2006, Thomson remained deeply committed to the project.

Of course, the 21st-century gallery must also tend to our needs to eat, shop and party. These facilities are accommodated seamlessly, clad in the same Douglas fir trim as the rest of the building.

One of the nicest touches, however, is one most will never notice. Look carefully at the Dundas façade, and you'll see the cables that support the streetcar wires are attached directly to the AGO. Although you'd think the city and the TTC would have been thrilled by the offer, getting permission wasn't easy. The result is that the usual City of Toronto standard-issue utility poles have been removed and this stretch of Dundas has never looked better.

"It's hard to do galleries," Gehry admits, "hard to get them right. It's about how you light the galleries, the scale of the rooms and how you install them. Many of these spaces will be used in ways we can't predict. And there is so much heavy breathing about minimalist spaces. Art has got to have a context. Buildings have got to have a personality. I wasn't totally happy with it before, but now I think it's going to be a blockbuster.

"It's hard to remodel a building," Gehry continues. "I spent a lot of time fitting it into the city. Yeah, it would've been great to do something that wasn't encumbered like the AGO. It wasn't ideal. The idea here was to engage the city. When you go to the gallery, you're always looking back at the city."

And as of tomorrow, when the AGO finally reopens, the city will be looking back at us.

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